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OJ Simpson Arrested

In another bizarre twist to the OJ Simpson story, the news from Metro is that OJ Simpson has been arrested in connection with the robbery of sports memorabilia at the Palace Station on Thursday.  He is being charged with one count of robbery with a deadly weapon.  Simpson is still waiting for his attorney to arrive in Las Vegas.  He was arrested  by Metro at the Palms Hotel.

"He's under arrest and he's on his way to the office," said Lt. Clint Nichols of the robbery unit. Investigators will question Simpson before any more charges are added, Nichols said.

The other man who is charged in the case has been identified as Walter Alexander.  Alexander, 47, is charged with robbery with a deadly weapon, assault with a deadly weapon, conspiracy and burglary with use of deadly weapon.

On Thursday evening, Metro Police responded to a robbery call at the Palace Station (Sahara Avenue and Rancho Road).  The alleged victim identified OJ Simpson as one of the men involved in the armed robbery of sports memorabilia from the victim.

Simpson claims that he was only there to retrieve items that had been stolen from him, including a picture of The Juice and G-Man and Head of the FBI,  J. Edgar Hoover.  Simpson claims the Auction House in charge of the Sports Memorabilia Show contacted him regarding the items.

Simpson was in town for a wedding and was seen with his daughter Arnel at various high end restaurants earlier on Thursday.  The Auction House arranged a meeting between Simpson and ther owner of the memorabilia.

What happened at that meeting is still under investigation.  Bruce Fromong, one of the memorabilia sellers, claims to be a former business associate of Simpson's and says he came by the memorabilia legally.  He says that the Auction House head, Tom Ricchio, set up the meeting.

Ricchio claims that there was no break-in and that no one used deadly force.

Fromong claims that while OJ did not brandish the gun himself, more than one of his cohorts did have a gun and that they threatened to use force to take the items.   Fromong claims that besides the disputed items, Simpson and his co-horts took items that were designed, produced and the property of Fromong.

Simpson is being quoted in various newspapers and reports as saying "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas except when it happens to me."

Stay tuned for updates as this bizarre case continues. 

Posted on Sunday, September 16, 2007 at 1:08PM by Registered CommenterLasVegasLynn | Comments2 Comments

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Reader Comments (2)

Hello,
I also live in Las Vegas & have grown so tired of movie stars, sports stars, music stars.. coming here to cause trouble. Do they think that Vegas needs them so bad that they will get a free pass? I really hope that they understand - what happens in Vegas is world news.
Tired of superstars crap!
September 16, 2007 | Unregistered CommenterSheryl Loch
Sheryl,

I agree that their is way too much celebrity worship not only here in Las Vegas but everywhere.

I don't think Metro will give OJ Simpson a pass just because of who he is. They seem to be moving forward on this case instead of waiting for Simpson's lawyer to show up and for Simpson to make his statement at that time.

By the way, Mike Weatherford has a great column about the celebrity overload in his column in today's RJ:

http://www.lvrj.com/living/9812597.html
September 16, 2007 | Registered CommenterLasVegasLynn

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